Associated PressNick Collison might not be a big scorer, but he does a lot of the little things for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The five most interesting stories, rumors and notes in the NBA:1. Creative financing: At first glance, this seems mind-boggling -- Oklahoma City made a move that will pay backup forward/center Nick Collison $13.3 million this season. That's more than Steve Nash, Chauncey Billups and Manu Ginobili are being paid, and it makes Collison the highest-paid player on the Thunder.

How and why? ESPN.com's Marc Stein reports that the move is a piece of salary cap creativity by GM Sam Presti, who signed Collison to a four-year extension worth $11 million, but paid $6.5 million as a signing bonus, which counts against the Thunder's cap for this season. OKC was $6.5 million under the cap this season, and space would have shrunk in future seasons, when Kevin Durant's max extension kicks in.

Meanwhile, the rest of Collision's extension will be paid in decreasing yearly increments, going down to $2.2 million in the deal's final season, 2014-15. That gives Presti the flexibility to grant an extension to Russell Westbrook and consider re-signing Jeff Green when he becomes a restricted free agent next summer.

Meanwhile, Collison -- a well-liked role player who has been with the franchise through four seasons in Seattle and three more in Oklahoma City -- gets a chance to finish his career with the only NBA franchise he's ever played for.

Collison also is the lone player who has been Durant's teammate during Durant's entire NBA career, and the Thunder's star forward gave a big thumbs up to the deal via Twitter, writing: "Congrats to my brother Nick Collison for signing his extension!!! He really deserves it..best teammate any player can ask for."

Ah, if this just happened a decade ago, we could've been saying how Bryant could pass to Tyronn Lue Who.

APJordan Hill is being asked to do more for the Rockets while Yao Ming heals.

3. Turning to youth: Blazers fans who are fretting about injuries will get no sympathy from Houston fans. The Rockets, at 3-10 and mired in a four-game losing streak, have been a huge disappointment as they are once again handcuffed by health issues.

That's forced coach Rick Adelman to accelerate the learning curve for his young bench players. The Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Feigen reports that Adelman called Courtney Lee, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill into his office Sunday for individual meetings at which he told them they needed to take better advantage of their increased playing time.

"It meant a lot,"
Lee tells Feigen. "He's holding us accountable. Us three guys, we've been
waiting for an opportunity to get out there and try to impact the game
and help the starters out. It was a good feeling. By the time Jordan came out, it was like, 'Hmm, he just talked to us three. We have to turn it up.' "

Hill, the No. 8 pick in the 2009 by the Knicks, had 14 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to Phoenix on Monday. He had been languishing on the Knicks bench before he went to Houston in the three-team February trade that sent Tracy McGrady's expiring contract to New York (not to mention Sergio Rodriguez from the Kings).

Hill is an athletic 6-10 forward/center who started in basketball late but seemingly has a lot of upside, so it will be interesting to see if Adelman can get more from him than Mike D'Antoni did in New York.4. Speaking of the Knicks: Just a week ago, the Knicks were in a bad place, with Amare Stoudemire muttering about the team's lack of urgency as it was mired in a losing streak that would reach six games. Here was a team that some thought had a shot at the playoffs being booed by its own fans.

And now? The Knicks have won four games in a row, capped by last night's 110-107 home victory over Charlotte improved them to 7-8, which would be good enough to make the playoffs if they started today.

The catalyst has been point guard Raymond Felton, who some saw as a stopgap between the present and the Knicks making a run at the Hornets' Chris Paul, which looks less less realistic by the day. In the four wins, Felton averaged 21.7 points and 7.5 assists.

Felton helped the Bobcats make the playoffs for the first time last season, but Charlotte opted to let the Knicks have him for $7.5 million per season. He made two free throws with 2.1 seconds left to sew up the win.

Felton and his former backup, D.J. Augustin, get to battle again tonight, this time in Charlotte. "That's my little young fella, it was difficult, but once you're out
there it's game time, and I have to fight for my team and he has to win
for his," Felton said.

5. Helping out: The Blazers took Tuesday off, but only from practice. Members of the team and franchise took part in their annual Harvest Dinner at Rose Garden, serving 5,300 holiday meals and offering such free services as haircuts, flu shots, family photography, pet care and more.